The disclosures herein relate generally to computer systems and more particularly to an automated pick and place device used on an assembly line in the custom manufacture of computer systems.
This application relates to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/053,524, filed on Mar. 31, 1998, entitled Manufacturing System and Method For Assembly of Computer Systems In a Build-To-Order Environment, naming Lois Goss as inventor. The co-pending application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, and is assigned to the assignee of this invention.
There have been many processes developed for consolidating assembly line stations including enhanced automation, tracking and inspection. For example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,878, an automated apparatus for controlling the automatic packaging of contact lenses in a contact lens fabrication facility includes: a first robotic transfer device for periodically transferring a first predetermined amount of individual packages from an inspection station to an intermediate consolidation buffer and depositing the packages on the consolidation buffer; a control device for tracking and identifying each individual contact lens conveyed from the inspection station to the consolidation buffer and including memory and logic circuits for storing the identity of individual packages containing contact lenses that have been previously determined at the inspection station as being out of specification, and, generating a signal to enable the first robotic device to discard any individual package identified as out of specification; and, a second robotic assembly for periodically transferring a second predetermined amount of individual packages from the consolidation buffer to a second processing station, the control device enabling the first robotic device to provide a sufficient amount of individual packages to the consolidation buffer to enable the second robotic assembly to continuously transfer the second predetermined amount of packages to the second processing station in every period.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,269, an automated work center for use in materials handling operations is disclosed. The work center includes a randomly accessible vertically moving temporary storage queue for receiving containers that hold material goods. A fixed loading ramp is arranged to receive containers from an external system and to load the received containers onto the storage queue. A work area having a plurality of rotatable work tables provides and gives the operator access to the containers. A delivery system transfers containers between the storage queue and the work tables and a takeaway system transfers containers between the work area and the conveyor network. An automated control system coordinates the delivery of containers between the temporary storage queue and the work area. A consolidation queue having a multiplicity of vertically spaced shelves may be disposed opposite the work tables to facilitate the consolidation of ordered goods.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,672,039 an apparatus and method for consolidation of warehoused goods into orders, sets or kits is described. The apparatus allows precise positioning of a large number of objects supported by a movable rigid member, without requiring precise drive motion. The method allows concurrent transfer of a large number of articles, to fill the same or different ones of a large number of orders, where items for different orders may be initially stored in the same or different storage containers.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,675,962, an apparatus is provided for removing and transporting articles, such as contact lens sections from a manufacturing line to inspection and packaging stations. The lenses are deposited in a transparent plastic primary package which carries the lenses through the inspection station and becomes part of the primary package when a cover is sealed thereto. The invention includes various assemblies, including lens transfer assemblies deionized water filling and removal assemblies, a water degassing assembly, a lens inspection assembly, and a lens package sealing assembly. The lenses are removed from pallets at a post hydration station, transported and spatially redistributed, and deposited in the primary packages disposed on a second set of pallets. The packages on the second set of pallets are filled with degassed deionized water. The contact lenses and packages are then transported to an inspection station. After inspection, the lenses and packages are transported to a water removal assembly, and then to another transfer assembly. This transfer assembly separates those lenses which passed inspection from those which did not, and places those that did in a consolidating assembly. The lenses and packages are then filled with saline solution and a foil label is then sealed thereto to form the primary package.
In the assembly of computer systems, two parallel conveyors are used to move corresponding parts of the system to a consolidation station where the two conveyors are reduced to one conveyor. One of the conveyors moves a computer chassis including a power supply and a motherboard, and the other of the conveyors moves a tote which carries components which are to be later assembled into the chassis to complete the hardware assembly. Components manually placed in the tote include for example, floppy drives, hard drives, cables, a modem, and all other hardware required to complete building a respective build-to-order computer system.
The chassis is identified by a bar code label which identifies the system during its lifetime. As the chassis and an empty tote pass a scanner, a label matching the chassis label is created and placed on the tote. In this way, the chassis and tote are matched as they move along the parallel conveyors, so that the correct components are automatically identified and placed in the tote for eventual assembly in the chassis. The chassis and tote reach a point where the tote contains all of the required components for the associated chassis and the parallel conveyors terminate. The labels are read by an operator handheld scanner and an indicated match results in consolidation of the chassis and tote on a single conveyor which transports them to an assembly area. Consolidation is accomplished such that when the indicated match occurs, it is visually readable on a screen. The operator depresses a foot pedal which raises the system. The operator then picks up the chassis and places it on top of the tote to consolidate the matched tote and chassis for transport to the assembly area.
The consolidation process requires an operator at each consolidation position to operate the scanner and to physically stack the chassis on the tote. When this is multiplied by several assembly lines, the total number of operators and thus the total assembly cost escalates. In addition, the repeated reading, matching, lifting and stacking is tiresome work.
Therefore, what is needed is a system for automatically scanning and matching the parallel chassis and tote units, and automatically stacking the chassis onto the tote for transport to the assembly area.